Dad’s putting tip sees Lawrence lead Open

● Thriston Lawrence has described his process as “cut and paste”, and the young South African who has taken the DP World Tour by storm did exactly this as he replicated his good form this week to lead the Investec South African Open by two strokes going into today’s final round.

Lawrence heads the field on 18-under par following a third round of 67. His nearest challenger is Frenchman Clément Sordet on 16-under following a third round 66, with Sweden’s Jens Fahrbring in third place on 12under after a 69.

But yesterday Lawrence was once again as composed as he has been since he led the first round and never looked back. “Once you’ve been in the leading groups you get to know yourself in those situations and I think I’m very calm there. I’m very comfortable where I am at the moment,” he said.

Lawrence’s putting was again the key to his success. A putting tip from his father after last week’s Joburg Open has made all the difference and has been the final piece in a game that has been exceptionally strong from tee to green.

“The putting has definitely been key. It was good fun out there. It started off well with a birdie on the first and then I lost a bit of momentum around the turn. But yes, 18under. I didn’t think the winning score would be 18-under to be honest, and now I’m there after three rounds.”

Lawrence won twice on the DP World Tour last season and became the first South African in history to win the Tour’s Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award. Determined not to change anything in his process, Lawrence is hunting victory number three on the DP World Tour and his place alongside the greats of SA golf to have won their national Open.

“It’s our country’s Open and I’m playing good golf. I’m enjoying it. We had a good crowd out there and I have most of my family here. It’s been fun.”

As his nearest challenger, Sordet is also looking forward to a final round battle in a country where he won a Challenge Tour event earlier this year and experienced a trophy handover from an elephant. “It’s been a lot of fun. I know Thriston is a really good player and he is playing well. It will be challenging to catch him, but I’ll give it my best,” he said.

Gary Player was on hand to watch the next generation of South Africans compete for a title that remains extremely close to his heart, and which is being played on what used to be his family farm before he transformed it into this championship golf course.

“The Open championships of countries are always the most important,” said Player, who in his career won the national Opens of several countries, including a record 13 SA Open titles.

“The SA Open means so much to me. It is without question our number one golf tournament in the world. To be the South African Open champion is a true legacy,” he said while harbouring a slight desire for his Blair Atholl layout to have been set up to show its true muscle this week.

The talented amateur Christiaan Maas leads the race for the Freddie Tait Cup awarded to the leading amateur. Maas was right in the hunt for the main professional title at the start of the third round at only three shots off the lead. But a difficult third round of 72 dropped him to nine-under par overall, but still putting in a strong showing.